Giving back is something our founder Rob Ceravolo (who also happens to be a retired navy fighter pilot) takes very seriously, and what better way to deliver holiday cheer than with our favorite Seaplane Santa?!

“I was brought up to give back,” Ceravolo said recently. “And we’re taught to give back in the Navy. I was taught that you volunteer in the community where you are stationed. It’s what you do because you are part of the community. You are privileged to be allowed to operate and live there, and you give back to the community.”

That’s why Tropic Ocean Airways was is always one of the first companies to respond when there’s a natural disaster anywhere we fly. “Service is just kind of ingrained in our company culture,” he says.

And that’s why Ceravolo really lights up when we start taking about the “Santa Seaplane.”

“I feel very privileged to operate in the Bahamas. Our clients who live there, travel there and work there, are very loyal to us. And I feel very fortunate that the company is growing and succeeding, so we do a lot of charity work in terms of donating to auctions and things like that.”

But nothing really compares with the joy that happens when a plane loaded with presents—and Santa Claus himself—lands on the water near an island that’s rebuilding after getting hit hard by Hurricane Dorian earlier this year.

Santa has already delivered a plane load of presents to the school kids on Great Harbour Cay earlier this month. And our second Seaplane Santa trip to deliver presents to the kids on Moore’s Island arrived on December 18th!

Santa Seaplane is something that we as a company look forward to every year. The smiles on the kids’ faces make it all worth it!

Happy Holidays everyone!